The Future of Design with AI

I've given it some thought after last week's release of Figma AI — am I worrying too much or misunderstanding it?

Jul 04, 2024

Hey again,

It hasn't even been a month, but I couldn't wait to share my thoughts after last week's Figma Config.

Yes, it's about Figma AI. It's been the hot topic on Twitter (I mean X) these past few days.

For context, if you missed what's happening at Figma Config: Figma just launched their AI features, which take us to the next frontier of design.

I instantly loved the AI-assistant-like features such as renaming layers, suggesting auto layouts, and searching components. These features will save us time on mundane tasks.

When they announced the more revolutionary 'Make Designs,' where AI can create designs, I had mixed feelings. It's exciting and unsettling at the same time.

It’s not perfect—it’s not as smart and creative as we think. Apparently, the AI is trained based on iOS apps, as someone prompted a weather app and it gave the iOS weather app design.

Soon, it will get better as it learns massively from our Figma files.

Deep inside, I have a lot of (stupid) questions.

The big one looming is: will AI replace designers? How will the landscape be different in the next few years?

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The Utopian

The digital product design world had become boring with familiar patterns, looking homogenous from one product to another. Although familiarity made people comfortable using technology, it stifled innovation.

We had been afraid to venture into unfamiliar patterns because it took more effort and time to design and develop something new. There was a significant cost to being different, and sometimes that cost was seen as unnecessary rather than an opportunity.

With AI, people dared to venture into making great designs because AI augmented their work, making them better, faster, and more creative. The intelligent assistant gave product designers more space to explore their tastes and empathize with humans, rather than being bogged down by basic layouts and components. Businesses were even willing to take risks in making their designs look great and different because "good" was no longer enough.

Down the road, many well-crafted, empathetic products were made, making the work more meaningful and satisfying for designers.

On the other hand, AI helped new designers and non-visual designers thrive and achieve standard good-looking products.

As Figma executives always said, they're using AI to lower the floor and raise the ceiling.

The Dystopian

One day, far in the future, a former Figma executive confessed to the media that he regretted their decision with AI. He said the technology had gone too far in chasing efficiency and profits, rather than making the design world more exciting, where creativity and taste were articulated and praised.

Products with great design became even greater because they put design at the heart of their offerings—they had leaders who truly cared about design. However, such companies were few and far between.

The lowered floor made everyone a "designer," which made it even harder for new designers to secure jobs. Businesses didn't need dedicated designers as much as before, and people with less design background could now contribute to achieving a standard good-looking product.

Professional designers found themselves at a crossroads. Many switched their careers to become more product generalists, leveraging their design thinking in broader roles. Others, disillusioned with the tech industry's direction, gave up their tech careers altogether to pursue local and non-tech businesses where their creative skills were still valued.

The democratization of design, while beneficial in some ways, had led to a homogenization of digital aesthetics. The unique voices and visions that once defined great design were drowned out in a sea of AI-generated templates and layouts.

As the lines between human creativity and AI assistance blurred, the design industry grappled with redefining its value proposition. The challenge now was not just to create visually appealing interfaces, but to infuse them with the human touch that AI, for all its capabilities, still couldn't replicate.

Would Figma AI steal our work?

"Steal" is a serious word.

When someone steals from you, it means they're doing it without permission. People have been talking about this and are concerned that Figma might "use" their work.

The good news is that Figma has provided an option to decide whether any design files can be used to train their AI model.

The bad news is that it's opt-in by default and slightly hidden. You're not even asked and I'm against this approach.

This default opt-in policy raises questions.

Why not make it opt-out or at least more transparent? As designers, we should be aware of how our work is being used, especially when it comes to training AI models.

Figma has built trust with the design community over the years by putting designers at its heart and listening to their needs. This user-centric approach has been key to their success. To maintain this hard-earned trust, Figma should extend their commitment to transparency and user control to their AI training policies. Making these policies more explicit and giving users greater control over their data would align with the values that have made Figma a beloved tool in the design world.

Designers must stay informed about these policies and make conscious decisions about sharing their work. After all, our designs are not just pixels on a screen – they're the result of our creativity, expertise, and hard work.

With great power comes great responsibility

Excuse me, I need to borrow this, Peter!

Today, we can envision many different scenarios for the future. The path we take is in our hands.

Figma or whoever is doing AI-based products should carry the responsibility of upholding ethics and nurturing the community, not just focusing on enlarging their market size and increasing profits.

We need to see more designers stand up and shape ethical guidelines, caring deeply about the community as we move forward with AI by our side.

Is AI coming at the right time?

I guess there will never be perfect timing. Whenever AI is launched, we'll have mixed feelings of excitement and unease.

Still, I would argue that the timing isn't ideal.

With many tech companies cutting back, laying off employees, and focusing on efficiency like never before, it makes us wonder: will AI make this winter even drier and colder, or will we soon see hopes blooming like flowers in spring?

Design as a verb

'Make Designs' — that's how Figma labels their Gen-AI feature to create screens, using the word 'design' as a noun rather than a verb.

When we think of design as a series of activities or a process, we see that there's still a lot of room to work from one end to the other.

Great design isn't born from a single activity of 'making designs' and then shipping them. It's a complex process: research, ideation, iteration, you name it.

Navigating through the shift

Moving forward, there's no world we live in without AI.

The shift is happening.

Sooner or later, we'll see more use cases with Gen-AI, such as 'Make Variations,' 'Make Moodboards,' and 'Make Designs based on our design system.'

It's inevitable.

We may think that chasing design hard skills to stand out in the market is the only thing we need. But what's more fundamental now are adaptation and resilience skills to help navigate through this shift – and to calm ourselves: 'The change is coming, I'll be fine. I'll be better.'

We are in this together.

I’d love to hear your feelings and thoughts.